8/02/2013

Yellowing Bodies and Something New

The other day I took this nude Gene doll out of the closet where she's been stored for a few weeks and noticed something other than her yellow body which she's had for almost a year. Look at the dark line coming down from her ear and going around the back of her head.
I posted this picture on one of the doll boards and the consensus of opinion was that it was from a hair net. I wondered how could this be? I got her several years ago and her hair hasn't been netted for a long time.

Here is an interesting explanation:

It looks like a mark from the rubber edge from a hairnet:I do repair and restoration of dolls and have seen this before. the rubber
in the hairnet edge will deteriorate and before it even does it can make
a mark, sometimes not showing up for a while even years. It all depends
on the hairnet, and the rubber used, mostly now they wrap the rubber in
white poly thread but if the rubber is strongly "unstable" or badly
produced (just like the plastic parts of a doll oxidize) it can react and
start to seep into the vinyl and may not change color until later, we
must remember that plastic,vinyl and rubber are all rather "fluid "
materials atomically, and their structure is constantly moving. so what
shows up on a surface now may disappear or move inward to the interior
or outward to the surface. the color of the mark has distinct
properties, green being a color that appears with a stronger copper
content, and the rubber used could have been exposed to copper somehow
(or brass etc) therefore making the greenish mark. An example of rubber
affecting plastic is evident in many dolls like Dawn, that have rubber
vinyl legs and plastic hips - they melt into each other sometimes and it
really depends on the way the rubber and plastic is batched before being
used in a mold part.

Posted by mikemade on August 1, 2013

This is an Integrity Toys manufactured Gene Marshall.

When does one just give up? I have no more replacement Gene bodies. I've used up all of them replacing deteriorating IT bodies and replacing a few non-articulated bodies on Ashton-Drake Genes.

16 comments:

How old is this doll? I know there has been chatter on the W Club about the bodies yellowing. What I don't understand is how some bodies\heads seem to change colors and others don't. Well, maybe not just yet. It does take the fun out of collecting if you are worried that your hard earned dollars you have spent on these dolls might be worthless one day.

As for your question "When does one give up?" I don't have an answer. But the same question has been going through my mind as well. Regardless, I think some damage control needs to take place over at Integrity Toys for this issue.

Something to be said about the old AD straight-arm, straight leg bodies. If you don't need to pose them, they are great as a mannequin to display outfits.

Try the Benzoyl Peroxide routine on this girl. But why would a black (I assume) hair net go on her? OR...... could it have been a flaw at the factory "Quality Control" didn't catch? I do have a couple of IT heads on older Gene bodies.

I am really sorry this has happened, to you and to many others. Deep breaths! I think in this moment, for Gene, we know her legacy is with a new maker, and Iuckily Gene's head looks lovely on other bodies, like Tonner's Antoinette, which isn't ideal but better than nothing and cheaper than the replacement body on eBay right now with a BIN of $150! LOL!!!

What can we do as collectors at this point? IT doesn't seem to, IMHO care about the high end doll collector. We have become a person whose name they once wanted to know, but now rather just pump more dolls to.

Perhaps the discoloration has bled from the inside and may have been from something they used to hold the head whilst being rooted or painted? I hate hearing this as I have not been collecting long but have bought some second hand dolls. Have you tried a Madame Alexander Suzette or Sienna body, they seem to look similar?

I am of two minds about this issue.I don't feel that we can blame IT indefinitely for quality control issues that are showing up years after the fact, however, they have had way too many quality control and production issues and I have not seen any efforts on their part to address these with their customers.Much as I like the "design" of their products, the poor quality and physical deterioration have made me reconsider purchasing from them.As always love the Blog.

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